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A Josephson Junction is a quantum mechanical device, which is made of two superconducting electrodes separated by a barrier (insulating tunnel barrier, thin normal metal, etc.). A Josephson junction is a specific example of a Josephson junction which has a Josephson phase φ of in the ground state i.e. when no external current or magnetic field is applied. ==Background== The supercurrent ''Is'' through a conventional Josephson junction (JJ) is given by ''Is = Icsin(φ)'', where φ is the phase difference of the superconducting wave functions of the two electrodes, i.e. the Josephson phase.〔 〕 The critical current ''Ic'' is the maximum supercurrent that can flow through the Josephson junction. In experiment, one usually applies some current through the Josephson junction and the junction reacts by changing the Josephson phase. From the above formula it is clear that the phase ''φ = arcsin(I/Ic)'', where ''I'' is the applied (super)current. Since the phase is -periodic, i.e. and are physically equivalent, without losing generality, we restrict the discussion below to the interval . When no current (''I'' = 0) is passing through the Josephson junction, e.g. when the junction is disconnected, the junction is in the ground state and the Josephson phase across it is zero (φ = 0). The phase can also be , also resulting in no current through the junction. It turns out that the state with is ''unstable'' and corresponds to the Josephson energy maximum, while the state φ = 0 corresponds to the Josephson energy minimum and ''is'' a ground state. In certain cases one may obtain a Josephson junction where the critical current is negative (''Ic < 0''). In this case, the first Josephson relation becomes : Obviously, the ground state of such a Josephson junction is and corresponds to the Josephson energy minimum, while the conventional state φ = 0 is unstable and corresponds to the Josephson energy maximum. Such a Josephson junction with in the ground state is called a Josephson junction. Josephson junctions have quite unusual properties. For example, if one connects (shorts) the superconducting electrodes with the inductance ''L'' (e.g. superconducting wire), one may expect the spontaneous supercurrent circulating in the loop, passing through the junction and through inductance clockwise or counterclockwise. This supercurrent is spontaneous and belongs to the ground state of the system. The direction of its circulation is chosen at random. This supercurrent will of course induce a magnetic field which can be detected experimentally. The magnetic flux passing through the loop will have the value from 0 to a half of magnetic flux quanta, i.e. from 0 to Φ0/2, depending on the value of inductance ''L''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pi Josephson junction」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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